<p>Hi, we are going to visit Seton Hall for their Preview Day for Admitted students this weekend, so hopefully will get a better feel for the college then. I have not come across any PA's in Pediatrics even in this area(Ma), they only use Nurse Practitioners, probably for financial reasons as mentioned above. I would love to get in touch with a PA in Pediatrics, if anybody knows of one, I would appreciate the input, maybe I should call around some more as well. The combined program is excellent for someone who definitely wants to be a PA, like your son, Toledo, but my D is not positive so we are torn between going for the program or going for a better school & then she can try for the Masters later if she still wants to.
She can take up Nursing if she goes to Northeastern as she has admission into their Health Sciences School where she can choose her path after a year but they do not offer PA as a choice. Seton Hall does have 64 weeks of clinical rotations required, I know it's not the same as actually having a job in the field but I'm hoping it comes close & makes the students & potential employers comfortable with their qualifications.</p>
<p>I just did a google search using "physician assitant" pediatrics MA
and came up with quite a bit, primarily job listings. Many of them wanted a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner. Let me know how you like Seton Hall.</p>
<p>At the academic medical center where I am employed, both PAs and ARNPs are considered mid level care providers and have exactly the same page range - salary at entry 60k and with a top end 115 K. Often job postings indicate either back ground desirable. The ARNPs seem to be more upwardly mobile than the PAs , with some ARNPs moving into the highest of level leadership positions such as Dept Directors, VPs and president. Have not seen this with the PAs, --not sure if that is coincidental or the difference in educational preparation? That said ARNPs and PAs are highly respected.</p>
<p>I agree with previous posters that hands on experience is critical. IMHO I would discourage entry directly to the mid level provider without significant direct hands on experience.</p>
<p>We did like Seton Hall but the curriculum is very dry & science based, Bio, Chem, Calculus & English along with a freshman seminar type course in Semester I and II of the first year. Not much room for electives. We are still trying to decide between Northeastern & Seton Hall, I'm just afraid my d will not do well that first year and that will put her off completely. Does anyone know if it is far more difficult to get into a graduate Physician Assistant program with and undergrad degree in Psychology v/s the Sciences? Just hate the idea of her struggling but I guess she won't know unless she tries. Any Seton Hall students out there willing to give their input? Actually all input is welcome since she is very, very confused!</p>
<p>Toledo - I love "I've researched this to death" sounds like a CC'er! But since you have - what do you know about schools in the western half of the country?
Any opinions on quality, selectivty, fin aid, ....</p>
<p>I only researched schools with 5 year programs. You can get admitted as a freshman and graduate with a combined BS/MA at the end of five years. Most of these programs are in Pennsylvania. There are around 20 schools that are offering this dual degree program. The furthest west was Marquette, in Milwaukee. If you want to go the traditional route, there are at least 200 schools to choose from as a grad student.</p>
<p>My daughter is also planning to become a PA and she too, is thinking possibly of pediatrics. She had chosen to apply and will attend a general undergraduate program and then apply to PA programs for grad school because she does not want to fully commit herself to becoming a PA at 17 years old. She realizes that she may change her mind and wanted other options. Her undergrad degree, at this point, will be Health Sciences - General Allied Health track. From here she could transfer into the nursing program at her school, the biomedical program or she could continue with this degree which gives her all the prerequisites to graduate schools for PA , occupational therapy, physical therapy, pharmacy or even med. school (she would just need to add calculus and a third semester of chemistry for med school ads).
I do think the combined programs are wonderful time and angst savers if you REALLY are positive of your career path but not many 17 or 18 yr. old are these days. I would vote for the general degree for along1's D. College is such a wonderful time to experience so many other areas of interest and possibly, change your mind.</p>
<p>What about Wake Forest University? Do they have a good PA program?</p>
<p>I just came across this forum doing some research on the web. I am currently a senior biochemistry major who was on the path to go to medical school. I was even accepted into a couple of them, but decided to deny my acceptances and apply to PA schools for numerous reasons. The two most important were that the medical field is in a really shaky state, and this profession is going to be one of the top jobs in the field. The second is for financial reasons.</p>
<p>Let me just say that getting into a PA school is just as hard as getting into a medical field, if not harder because they have more pre-requisites. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the MSPA program at Seton Hall. I have a few friends in the program, and they highly recommend it. If your child is considering the dual degree path, it would be a great opportunity to take. The first year is always difficult because we have to readjust and learn to be on our own, but for the most part we do well. If, after their first or second year, they feel they don't want to follow the path, they can change their major to what their degree would be in. (i.e. At Seton Hall, if you decided to withdraw from the program, your child could change their major to biology and graduate in four years.) </p>
<p>I hope this helps you. In the end, just remember that it is your child's decision. My parents pushed me to go to one school, it was a horrible experience and I had to transfer out and make up for the mistakes I made. Just be encouraging for whichever path they choose. I wish you and your family they best of luck on these endeavors!</p>
<p>The P.A. chair at Marquette Univ. actually told me that "It is harder to get into our P.A. program than medical school because more people want to be P.A.s rather than doctors now." Yikes!</p>
<p>^ Wake's program was tied for 23rd in the 2007 USNWR PA school rankings. Not too shabby.</p>
<p>Edit: also, their program is a little different, as they do problem-based learning. Basically, they have less lecture time, but spend a lot of time working in small groups on very realistic case studies and work to find the information through journals, etc. to solve the patient's issue.</p>
<p>My daughter is so stressed right now! She accepted at Penn State last week with plans to go on to a 2 yr PA program after graduation (in 4 yrs) now she is thinking she should accept at St Francis Univ. 5 yr masters PA program. Today is the final day to send in her registration and she left for school today so confused!
She likes that fact that Penn State has so many other things to offer but is worried she will not get into a PA school in 4 yrs., even though she is a good student (4.2 gpa)in HS. SFU is a lot smaller but has a excellent program (21st ranked by US News and World Report)
My thought is, a lot can change in 4 yrs., go where you think you will be most happy, not just for the program. Maybe I'm wrong.
Any info before 2:30 today would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Could someone please cut and paste the USNWR PA school's rankings?</p>
<p>pgh -- My daughter faced a similar decision in accepting a 6 year doctorate of physical therapy program. Her initial preference was for a Big Ten school, but she felt she didn't want to pass up the chance to already be accepted into the grad track. PT acceptance is very competitive also. She really likes the school she will be going to; it's not like she's ONLY going for the program; but if it weren't for her program, it would not have been her first choice.</p>
<p>What swayed her, I think, was something her university says -- that they hope, by guaranteeing the grad part with a minimum GPA, that undergrads will relax and really get into their undergrad studies and not just stress about their GPA and grad school admissions. </p>
<p>That being said, those minimum GPA can be high at some places -- while something like a 3.0 overall and a 2.8 in science pre-reqs, for example, is very doable, an overall 3.3 or 3.4 would be TOUGH. Check that out at St. Francis.</p>
<p>I don't know if I'm allowed to put this on here or not, but since it's from 2007 and it wasn't on the USNWR web site (I found it through googling), here you go:</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. I've never seen those ratings before. It looks like they rated about half of the accredited P.A. schools. Here are the accredited schools:</p>
<p>At SFU you have to maintain a 3.0 or you go on probation.
I do know that the 5 yr accelerated masters program will be very intense, doing a 6 yr program in 5 yrs. But, she won't have to have all the volunteer hours so many of the PA master programs require because it will be incorporated into the program.</p>
<p>Juva2jive:
Did ayone you know went to that WFU program and actually liked the system that you just described vs the traditional method of learning?
Thanks</p>
<p>I had to chuckle over the fact that Yale and Stanford were in the bottom half of the rankings. It was a surprise to see so many Texas schools at the top.</p>
<p>I currently work in the medical field as a manager. (for those who know my other posts I was an attorney and left it some time ago; I also have an MBA.) Anyway, I have hired quite a few PA's over the last few years, and the training is not always equivalent, regardless of the "rankings." The schools these people went to have been in PA, NJ, NY, and the programs that I would recommend are the Robert Wood Johnson/UMDNJ and Seton Hall programs. The graduates of BA only that I have met seem less thoroughly trained. That being said, there is a lot of demand for PA's in quite a few fields in the NY, NJ, PA area.</p>